


girls in the jungle

by fated_addiction



Category: GOT7, K-pop, KARA (Band), Korean Actor RPF, Red Velvet (K-pop Band), SM Entertainment | SMTown, 룸메이트 | Roommate (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-29
Updated: 2015-09-29
Packaged: 2018-04-24 00:31:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4898590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fated_addiction/pseuds/fated_addiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Seulgi can't honestly tell you when Im Jaebum became a thing for her.</i>
</p><p>Or: That time Youngji and Seulgi started a knitting club with just the two of them. And it was really, really lame.</p>
            </blockquote>





	girls in the jungle

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt, 'seulgi + youngji + best friends' -- because I honestly couldn't help myself, of course. 
> 
> I would watch their reality show.

How they meet: Seulgi says their group rooms were down the hall from each other, which is sort of true, and they accidentally ran into each other. Youngji maintains it was Amber that introduced them to each other because both Amber has a weird, six sense about throwing people together for the sake of her own amusement. This is also sort of true.

But both them, after raising their fists up in the air, a simultaneous 'fighting' yelled into the air -- half-giggled, half-snorted, let's be real -- will both tell you that some people are meant to be in each other's life, accidental and otherwise. Seulgi will do crazy things like convince her that starting a knitting club is the best kind of idea, like, ever, and while everyone else has a schedule, Youngji will drag her all over the city to try different chocolate shops because, well, she's thinking about starting a food blog on her spare time.

"Or," Joy starts wisely, amused when they meet, "you could just call each other best friends."

Chocolate tastings are too easy anyway. The truth is they started knitting because of boys.

 

 

 

 

 

**THEN**

GOT7 releases a new video at midnight.

You'd think it would be like they just discovered the Internet.

It's a starting point.

Seulgi can't honestly tell you when Im Jaebum became a thing for her.

 

 

 

 

"Have you seen it yet," Seulgi calls and ask, and she's in the car alone, on her way because it wouldn't feel right to confess this and not be next to Youngji. There's power in solidarity, you know.

"No," Youngji says sharply. Seulgi stares at her on the FaceTime feed. Her mouth softens into a frown, her gaze glued to the mess of yarn on her bed. She groans softly. "Knitting is supposed to be relaxing," she says too. "I am not relaxed."

"I'm not talking the blanket," she reaches for her bag and her Manager oppa is laughing in the front of the car, trying to be subtle about it. Seulgi sends a dark glare. "We'll talk about the blanket," she says. "I'm talking about the new video."

"Jackson sent me a link," Youngji's voice is absent.

"Yah --" This is an emergency, she thinks desperately. Because the video is out and she feels like she's a kid, and a Shinhwa stan all over again, nervous energy dragging to the edge of her seat. "You've already got two years of friendship over me," she says. "I've only said three sentences to Im Jaebum."

Youngji meets her gaze in the phone. Her mouth twitches. Her eyes brighten too and Seulgi feels herself shrink into the seat. The secret to becoming best friends? A mutual love for JYP, apparently. 

"Ah," her best friend drawls. "Jaebum-oppa," she says, tapping her chin. "I forgot about him."

"Of course you have," she says darkly. "You're too mad that Jackson went to the jungle and, you know, Hani."

Youngji shoots her a look.

"Just get here," she says, and then hangs up. She isn't mad. They have a lot a yarn to get through anyhow since they both decided they were going to make a really, really large blanket together.

Seulgi leans back against her seat in the car. She glares at her manager again and he quirks a brow at her.

"At least you're never boring," he says.

 

 

 

 

The coffee shop that belongs to Youngji's mother is like a second home, not just to her, but to a lot of Youngji's friends, including her group members. There's something safe about it, warm and even inviting; it's like you can almost pretend, without regret, that you chose the unpredictable life as an idol.

When Seugli arrives, she waves to Youngji's mother at the counter who, already used to her presence, hands her a tray with hot chocolate and kisses her cheek.

"She's in the back," the older woman says, and Seulgi gets this tiny pang in the back of her throat, a tiny group of knots in her belly, and reminds herself that she should probably call her mom too.

She climbs the stairs to the top area, moving to the back where she finds Youngji, her hair pilled messily on top of her head. She's got a laptop open, queued, and ready to go, another reason why she and Youngji are, like, soulmate besties or whatever. There's a huge half of something, which is too ambiguous to be called a blanket, and even more terrifying because it's red and pink and fuzzy, somehow, and Seulgi told her to not pick those colors.

"Hey," she greets, drops her bag, and sinks into the chair next to her. "Have you talked to him yet?"

"About the video?" Youngji blinks and pushes her bangs away from her eyes. "No," she says. "We're kind of in a fight."

Seulgi raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Hani," she supplies. Youngji gives her a tiny shrug too. "Which is really dumb because I love Hani, but, like everything else, it's weird because television is television."

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself," Seulgi says dryly. She picks up the free end of the blanket and drapes it over her knees, reaching for her own knitting tools too. It's a collaborative effort, after all.

Youngji sighs. "Just press play."

Seulgi does. Then cuts herself on a knitting needle.

Be natural, you know.

 

 

 

 

**BEFORE**

It's time for a history lesson, of course, or a crash course on how Seulgi meet Im Jaebum for a total of sixteen seconds, then at a later date, somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes, and then declared herself to Youngji, who was there of course, that she was stupidly in love with the guy.

The third time was at a radio station and they were just passing since Hara was taking both girls to dinner, as a treat for supporting and helping during her summer album promotions.

"I have a complex," she tells Jaebum, upon meeting him. Her smile is wide, bright, and clumsy. From the side, Jackson and Youngji are half-watching them, half-engaged in fighting about something. But Jaebum shuffles forward, closer to her. She holds up her hands, motioning. "Or delusion," she supplies, " -- I have to connect everyone in my life together, anomalies and all."

"Is that what I am?" he asks, amused.

Her head tilts to the side. Her mouth curves into something -- she's not really sure if she can call it a smile. It feels really real though.

"Probably," she decides.

 

 

 

 

 

"Someone," Seulgi says finally. This is the fifth watch of the video. "Someone," she repeats, "should tell them that stalking angrily is kind of, sort of a felony."

Youngji snorts. They've both abandoned their blanket (if it can be called _that_ ) for the hot chocolates and the video. They're paused over the dancing, as if it were the perfect excuse to pretend that they're watching because this is their job and both of them are really, really, really good dancers.

"It's an angry breakup," she says dryly. Then she groans, rubbing her eyes. "Do you think that this is why Jackson wants me to watch it?"

She thinks she's never heard Youngji sound _this_ vulnerable and she reaches out, grabbing the other girl's hand.

"Don't be stupid," Seulgi tells her. 

Youngji bites her lip, looking up at her. "I'm not," she says. "But Jackson is either too subtle or too ... too _Jackson_."

Seulgi laughs.

They stare at the laptop screen for a few more minutes in silence because really, sometimes all girls do is bond over how stupid boys are being. She's never been boy crazy anyway, but there's something about this guy that gets under her skin, that makes her want to know exactly what makes him ticket and why.

"I have an idea," she says slowly.

She turns her head, looking out to the top floor of the coffee shop. It's empty. She knows that no one comes up here this late; it's mostly students downstairs and dates, as it is, and she's sure, if anything, Youngji's mother has no problem with the two girls hatching some kind of world domination.

The first person she calls is Seungwan.

 

 

 

 

 

"You're terrifying," Amber says, after awhile, looking at her with something between admiration and delight.

Youngji just continues to shake her head.

"So," she continues, as Seungwan settles in between them. The ugly blanket has fallen on the wayside, somewhere underneath the table. "You want to do a dance video and you want to call yourself the ugly knitting club?" There's laughter in Amber's voice.

"YARN, really," Youngji says.

"You guys should have just taken up baking," Seungwan says dryly, eyeing the fallen blanket. Seungwan can actually knit. "Which is probably safer ..." she trails off, sharing a look with Amber.

"Anyways," Youngji says, grabbing Seulgi's hand. "Dance videos are fun. And girl group members doing boy group dances are fun too? I don't know if I can be angsty enough."

To make a point, Youngji tries to mimic Jackson's scowl, then swings her arms forward, much like the frozen frame that is still in view on the computer.

Everyone laughs.

"Anyways," Seulgi says, counting off on her fingers. "Hyeri is coming after her shoot, then there's Namjoo and Naeun from Apink because we met at that event last week and we need to have some kind of formation ..."

She stops because everyone, except Youngji, is looking at her like she has two heads. She groans and Youngji pats her back, taking over.

"Girl power," she supplies.

Seungwan laughs. "You guys, you should just call them." She points at Youngji first. "Jackson probably knows that you already like him," she says, then jerks her hand back to Seulgi. "And you," she says sympathetically. "You could just tell him that you like him. Or get Jackson too."

She's right, of course. It really isn't that complicated to somehow make this smaller, link through the friends that they both have in common, and then, well, boom! Suddenly, she's there and he's there and she can tell him something lame like: "Oh, well, how about a coffee? I really want to get to know you."

But Seulgi pumps up her fist, her face set into determination.

"No," she says. "Let's make a dance video."

 

 

 

 

 

They are all dancers in their groups. They are all _really_ good dancers in their groups. There is no choreo video, even though Amber combs the Internet, trying to find something that breaks down the choreography a little clearer. She even calls Victoria, from her group, and the older girl translates some of the moves as best she can, laughing delightedly when she hears the idea and then shows up to help too.

It's three o'clock in the morning and the shop's doors are finally locked when they go and actually start.

"This is my favorite move," Youngji says to the group, her feet moving into the slide. She does it effortlessly, seriously, and her teeth are biting her lip as she's watching the screen, mimicking the group move almost flawlessly.

Victoria comes next to her, joining into the move, like some choreography genius, pulling both Seulgi and Seungwan behind her because, you know, SM fighting! and all. They still have to fill in the gaps though. Amber laughs to herself from the floor.

"Who's going to kick the trash can?"

Seulgi snorts. "Me, of course."

Youngji laughs with Seungwan as Namjoo sets up the trashcan and she runs, clumsily leaping at it. Instead, the trashcan seems to tackle her instead and she falls onto the floor in a heap of laughter.

"This is the weirdest confession ever," Naeun says from behind her, linking their arms together. The other girl is intimidatingly beautiful when she smiles. "But," she says. "I like it."

Namjoo grins from her seat next to Amber, throwing her hands up. "It shows that you're not boring," she teases. "And that he's gotta up his game or something."

Seulgi can only blush.

Confessing, she decides, takes a village. She looks around the other girls, watching the small group of her eonni, Seungwan, and her best friend actually start and breakdown each dance move. It's a crazy reality, if anything but; maybe they'll see it, maybe they won't, maybe she doesn't care -- it's just nice to know, she thinks, that she can feel a certain way about Jaebum and it's not really lonely.

And it's healthier than knitting.

 

 

 

 

 

The video stops being a parody when they start dancing.

Seulgi takes the front. She's the sharpest. She ignores the other girls, focuses on the camera because this feels like a job, all of the sudden, and going hard is _going hard_. She'll respond this way because she's a terrible brooder, she thinks.

So when Amber flashes the camera in her direction, she stops mid-moving, her eyes dark, her mouth curled into some kind of mix of a pout and smirk.

It says _come and get me_.

This is a terrible breakup video.

 

 

 

 

 

**AFTER**

Amber calls her, amused. "Have you seen the Internet lately?"

It's somewhere after eight in the morning and she's bleary-eyed, on her way into her practice room because they have a couple more shows before their comeback is deemed successful and there are new schedules to be had.

"No," she answers. "I haven't had coffee, eonni and the Internet is really scary. So you're going to have to speak slowly and stuff."

"Youngji is coming to the company," Amber says. There's laughter in her voice. "I wanted to show you together."

She hangs up first.

Once into her schedule of the salon, a phone call with her mother, a text from Youngji that says _see you soon?_ , she realizes that, oh god, we've done something and it's actually on the Internet? and maybe that's way Manager Oppa was laughing at her this entire time.

"You knew," she accuses, her eyes narrowing as he stops the car. 

He holds up his hands. "I was sworn to secrecy," he says.

Seulgi can already tell this is going to be a long day.

True to form though, Youngji meets her in the entrance of her company, looking tired and confused, but generally Youngji-esque and half-biting her lip, which means that Jackson is definitely on his way. All girls have tells, you know, and Youngji's is definitely murdering her bottom lip with her teeth out of nerves.

She slides her arm through Youngji's too, dragging her towards the elevator while going through the motions of greeting random employees and accidental sunbaes. In the elevator, one of them sighs.

"Did you see it?" Seulgi asks.

"Yeah." Youngji's mouth twitches. "I read the comments too."

"And?"

"The fans love it," she says, amused. "They're particularly enamored with you laughing through the scowling face."

"It was really hard!" Seulgi defends herself.

Youngji laughs warmly. "I know," she pats her arm and they step off the elevator. She shrugs too. "Apparently, we're not good at breakup videos too."

Seulgi sees Jackson first, her mouth open in mid-response.

The blonde hair is growing on her, she thinks. It doesn't have to grow on her, but watching Youngji's face, how it lights up and falls with nerves is certainly proof of how it's grown on her too. Her best friend's hand tightens around her arm.

It takes another minute and then there's Amber, Jaebum in tow. Amber shrugs and mouths 'oops' without hiding her amusement or showing any indication of regret -- all completely and utterly unfair, considering the two of them haven't really seen the video at all.

"I want first borns," Amber declares, greeting. "From both of you," she adds.

Seulgi feels like her head is going to explode.

"But the video," she says.

"Was awesome," Jackson says and doesn't contain his amusement. "That trash can kick was stellar --" he turns his gaze to Youngji, softening. His mouth curls. "You were just scary though. Are you boxing in your spare time?"

Youngji's eyes narrow through her blush. "I hate you," she mumbles and turns her head.

But Jackson isn't one for stopping, it seems, steps forward and grabs her hand, pulling Youngji out of Seulgi's grasp.

"We're going to talk," he says. Then he winks to Seulgi. "Welcome to the family, sister-in-law," he says too.

And yup, Seulgi thinks, she wants to die. Like. Right _now_.

Amber has suspiciously disappeared from view, leaving her with Jaebum, in the hallway and outside the empty practice room. She stares at him, sort of wide-eyed, even as he steps forward and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"Want to talk?" he asks.

And like in the dramas, Seulgi can barely find her voice, hating herself for it.

"Sure," she says.

 

 

 

 

 

The best part about their practice room is the fact that it's an open space. There are a lot of memories here and it speaks to a lot of their collective personalities -- Yerim, Seungwan, Joohyeon, and Sooyoung. It's boys, it's heartbreak, it's new friends; it seems fitting to stand, facing Jaebum this way, in a room that's half-lit and seems both wide and impossibly small.

She feels quiet, all of the sudden, and wants to blast that she hasn't seen the video. She remembers it though; you can't forget the sweating, the laughing, the complicated moves and the drive to just get it right. He's looking at her and it's weird, it's almost like he's seeing her and seeing her for the first time too.

"Do you really think I'm that broody?"

"Yes," she says quickly. She winces, meeting his gaze. "Well," she starts again. "I think the angsty-post-break-up-hot-mess look was really hot. Not that you're not hot all the time." Her hand claps over her mouth. "Oh god," she moans.

Jaebum laughs, stepping closer. "It's a bad habit," he admits.

She peeks up at him through her fingers, watching as he sort of towers over her. His fingers brush at her face and then he reaches around, tugging gently at her ponytail. Her throat starts to dry when she watches his fingers drag through the strands.

"I didn't know you liked me," he says, and she wants to shrink away, wide-eyed with embarrassment. It becomes really, really real to her that she might have said something on video that gave it all away.

"Well," she tries to clear her throat. "I'm not exactly subtle," she admits.

"You don't know me."

Seulgi shrugs and his fingers are still playing with her hair. "We're in a business where people don't know us but they like us anyway," she points out.

"True," he agrees.

He seems fascinated by her. The thought alone makes her ready to explode into a fit of nerves; it's already building anyway. She can feel her stomach begin to knot, her eyes are falling onto his mouth and she's almost, almost ready to panic.

"I don't really have an ideal type," she half-confesses, blurts even more. "I just... I don't know why I like you. I kinda just do. And I want to see if I can like you more, I guess."

It's so stupid to say and she's sure, in fact, there are million reasons in her head yelling at her as to why saying it this way makes her so _uncool_ and if she were to plan this a little better, she's sure they'd be like Jackson and Youngji, in whatever dark corner they are in currently, making out because that's the way non-couple couples do this confession thing.

But then he smiles.

He smiles and she knows she's in trouble, simply by the way the corners of his mouth just turn and pull into his skin. He has dimples, she realizes and they crease and she really, really wants to kiss them off because isn't that what you do with boys and dimples? Instead, her hands are moving and she's framing his face with her fingers, touching because he's there and this is real.

"I'm probably going to do something stupid," she tells him breathlessly.

"Oh?" he asks and his mouth turns into her wrist. He kisses the skin and it lingers and oh god oh god oh god, Seulgi thinks. Her skin feels flushed. "Well," he sighs. "I'm a little too tired for a dance off if that's the case."

"You'd lose," she informs him, "and it would be ridiculous."

His eyes narrow and he jerks forward, his mouth touching the corner of hers. It's abrupt enough to pretend to be clandestine, terrifying to be confusing, and her heart is spinning out of control. She angles her head, just a little, and they're just kissing each other, without kissing each other, and it's perfect awkward and necessary all the same.

"Well," he clears his throat. Jaebum seems kind of shy, suddenly. "I'll have to do better, I guess."

Seulgi laughs, her head ducking.

She might be in love with him, if this is the case.

This is a good first date.

 

 

 

 

 

Amber calls the video The Trash Can Kick Heard 'round The World and they hit a million likes by midnight, which is weird, concerning, and hilarious too. 

Yeri, like any good dongsaeng would, finds about a million different .gifs of her tackling the trashcan, sending it via text to both her and Youngji. The last one she sends, is almost too much, something about Seulgi, an ugly blanket, and said ugly blanket spitting rainbows at her. She texts that one to Jaebum, hearts and smiles, with a caption underneath that says _see what you made me do_.

"Read the summary," Youngji tells her dryly when she calls. They don't talk about how she emerged from some dark corner in SM, lips kissed and her hand gripping Jackson's. Girl code, you know.

But Seulgi obeys, logs into her computer and then Youtube.

'My two good friends tried to start knitting,' the summary reads, 'and failed miserably -- so they made a dance video instead.'

It seems appropriate.


End file.
